Forum

Understanding VCCs
 

As I learn, have I got the following things right:

A VCC doesn't usually take long to expire, I thought at first.
I see now it's not entirely true. The gift card that issues the VCCs is what determines the lifespan of a VCC, and if the buyer of the gift card stops paying his monthly gift card fee, the VCC will stop working. True/false? The other situation in which a VCC will stop working is when its issuing gift card stops working for whatever it's being used for. And another situation is what kind of VCC you buy defines the lifespan. There are apparently 3 month lifespan VCCs or even 1 year lifespan VCCs, etc.

Initially I thought all VCCs were one-off affairs, you use them to activate an account and carry as little in them as possible. I now see they can be used to transfer large quantities gradually over time, just like any other credit card. Can they be linked to a paypal account, and have the pp issuing the cash? I assume, of course, that you're already using a VCC as a bridge between your bank account and paypal/amazon fees. But in that case how can you claim payments to a VCC as an expense on your tax return?!